Microsoft is holding a week-long sale for its Surface Pro 3 tablet in a bid to gain an advantage over its most apparent competitor, Apple's MacBook Air.
The Redmond, Washington-based company has temporarily slashed down the prices for four of the five Surface Pro 3 models. Customers who are looking to purchase one on the cheap can now get the 128GB, Intel Core i5 model for $899; the 256GB Intel Core i5 model for $1,199; the 256GB Intel Core i7 model for $1,449; and the high-end 512GB Intel Core i7 for $1,849.
Unfortunately for consumers who find the 64GB Intel Core i3 version too expensive at $799, the price will remain the same for the entry-level model.
Microsoft will also include a free sleeve worth $40 for each tablet purchased. The sale for the tablets kicked off on Jan. 30, Friday, and will last through Saturday, Feb. 7. The promo for the sleeves will last longer, according to a Microsoft spokesperson, and will continue until Apr. 5. Each customer can purchase up to three discounted tablets in total.
Buyers can get the Surface Pro 3 from the Microsoft online store or any of Microsoft's physical locations across the United States. Microsoft is also offering the discount to customers who prefer to purchase through Amazon.
The sale comes as Microsoft continues to push the Surface Pro 3 as a "tablet that can turn into your laptop." The 12-inch touchscreen, for instance, sports a resolution of 2160 x 1440 pixels and attaches to a Type Cover keyboard that is useful for users who find it uncomfortable to type on their tablets using the screen.
In contrast, the 11-inch entry-level MacBook Air is smaller, although it has the same 128GB of storage and runs on the same Intel Core i5 that powers the Surface Pro 3. The MacBook Air is currently priced at $899, the same as the discounted Surface Pro 3, and Microsoft hopes the sale could help sway people who still cannot decide between the two devices.
Still, there are other devices that could be more attractive for some people, and some of them are displayed right inside the Microsoft store. The newly unveiled Dell XPS 13, for instance, also starts at $899. Although it doesn't have the same quad-HD touchscreen the Surface Pro 3 has, it touts Intel's processor using its Broadwell architecture.
On the whole, the numbers are down for the tablet industry as consumers realize they do not need to replace their tablets every year. Microsoft, however, has been doing fairly well with its Surface line of tablets, having reported during its quarterly earnings call that revenue for the tablet business has exceeded $1 billion and rose 24 percent from last year's figures.
